Very cute pancake idea

I've been busy getting everything ready for my daughter's first birthday party, so my creative juices have been maxed out in that arena. I'm making a ton of things for her party which I am planning on sharing here. However, I'll wait until the party is over to share the how-to's.

In the meantime, go check out this tip for making pancakes fun and creative. Cute!

Links

I have a family blog that I started a few years ago, and I've been meaning to post links to crafty or foodie posts I've done over there. I finally had the chance to go through that blog in the past few days, so here's the list. Just click on one of the following to take you to the link on my other blog.

Aluminum Muffin Cups
Sweet and Salty Snack and Taco Soup Recipe
Sewing and Knitting
From Trash to Treasure
Knitted Hat and Hospital Packing Ideas
Healthy Eating for Kids
Black Bean Soup Recipe
Knitting Book Recommendation
Baby Cradle Courtesy of Chris
Knitted Texture Block
Knitted Dog
Going Green T-shirt Grocery Bags
Lavender's Blue Opening
Funky Square Quilt
Awesome Chocolate Chip Cookies
Quilting

A Great Resource

When my daughter was born almost a year ago, my sister-in-law organized a schedule of meal deliveries for us. It was absolutely the best gift ever. We had a hot and ready meal around 5:00 every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for over two months. It was honestly a life-saver. If we hadn't had meals delivered, we would have eaten Doritos or cereal for every meal. =) And that's only if we remembered to go to the grocery store for milk!
Anyway, that same sister-in-law delivered a beautiful and healthy baby boy (her fourth baby boy!) yesterday, and one of her friends organized meals for her family. Instead of just calling/e-mailing and filling in dates, she used the coolest online service, Food Tidings. She just e-mailed the link, and everyone can go on and sign up for the date they'd like. It also has a column to fill in what you're bringing them to avoid duplicate meals. So clever! I remember getting the same exact meal down to the side dishes three times in a row when we had them delivered. Of course we were still incredibly grateful, and we LOVED that particular dish. Another feature I love is that there is a column in the chart that lists the amount of people to prepare for, food allergies, and special instructions. For example, my sis-in-law is nursing, so people should avoid foods that are known to cause gas in the tiny tummies. Another example would be to write down instructions such as naptimes and daily schedules so the meal deliveries do not disturb the family.
So if you know of a pregnant mommy you'd like to bless or a person approaching surgery or just a family going through tough times in this horrible economy, I hope you'll find this resource helpful!

Cheap and Easy Dinner

Here's a budget dinner recipe for you. This is a go-to for us when we're in desperate need of a grocery run.

Cheesy Taco Skillet

Ingredients:

1 lb ground beef

1 small onion

garlic to taste

1 can tomato soup

1/2 can water

1 can salsa

2-3 8-inch flour or corn tortillas

handful of shredded cheese

Directions:

Brown the beef and onion (chopped) in a medium-sized skillet. Add garlic to taste. When the beef is browned, drain the fat. Add one can of tomato soup, then use the can to measure a half can of water (add to the pot) and one can of your favorite salsa (add to the pot). Stir to combine, and simmer until warmed through. Tear tortillas into 1-2 inch pieces, and add to the pot, and stir. Simmer 10-15 minutes or until sauce has thickened. Serve in a bowl with a sprinkling of shredded cheese on top.

Brownies

I've always wanted a brownie recipe that was as good as a boxed brownie mix. I've had some good made-from-scratch brownies, but nothing that even touches a mix. I made these on a whim last night (it's a recipe combining a mixture of recipes with tips from commenters who reviewed them), and they are a home run. Delicious. They're the perfect texture - fudgy and chewy. And they are the perfect level of chocolate and sweetness. Yum. I knew they were a hit when my husband (who cannot eat a brownie without vanilla ice cream on top...ever) took one to work today, ate it with no accompaniment, and said it was the best brownie he's ever tasted in his life. Hope you try them!

Best Brownies in the World

Ingredients:

1 stick unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 cup all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

1 Tablespoon instant coffee granules
8 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1 1/4 cups sugar
3 large eggs

1 Tablespoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Brush a 9-inch square baking pan with butter. Line bottom and two sides with a strip of parchment paper, leaving a 2-inch overhang on the two sides. Butter paper, and set pan aside. In a small bowl, whisk flour, cocoa, baking powder, instant coffee, and salt; set aside.
Using a double-burner, melt the chocolate and butter together. Stir constantly until smooth. Remove the chocolate butter mixture from the heat. Add sugar; mix to combine. Add eggs and vanilla, and mix to combine. Add flour mixture; mix just until moistened (do not over mix). I used a whisk until I added the flour, then switched to a rubber spatula to stir. Transfer batter to prepared pan; smooth top.
Bake until a toothpick inserted in center comes out with a few moist crumbs attached, 50 to 60 minutes. Cool in pan for 30 minutes. Using paper overhang, lift brownies out of pan; transfer to a rack to cool completely (still on paper). On a cutting board, using a dampened serrated knife, cut into 16 squares. Store in an airtight container at room temperature, up to 2 days.

A Laundry Tip

I saw this tip years ago and have used it ever since. See my laundry cabinet above my washing machine? I buy big bottles of laundry detergent from Sam's Club and position them directly over the washer.
Then, when it's time to do the laundry, I don't even have to measure it out. I just pump is straight into the machine. I filled the cup once a long time ago to the desired level while counting. So now I just count to three as I pump, and I figure it's about right.
Hope this tip saves you time in the laundry room!

Just in time for Easter

Since I tend to run a little behind on holiday crafts, I wanted to get a head start on this post. I have been knitting a few things for Hannah's Easter basket and wanted to share the patterns. I saw a picture of a cute knitted chick, but the pattern wasn't for sale yet. So I set to work to write my own baby chick pattern. I am so excited with the way it turned out. I wrote it down as I went changing things here and there as needed. I'm going to share it as a little gift to you all. I know there are very few knitters who read this regularly, so feel free to share it with your favorite knitting friends. It's entirely up for grabs.

Little Chick Pattern

I used US size 6 straight needles, 2 US size 6 double-pointed needles (dpns), 4-ply cotton yarn, a sewing needle, scissors, and a measuring tape

For the Body:

Using the straight needles and your favorite light yellow yarn, CO 35 stitches. Work in garter stitch until it measures 6 inches. Cut your yarn to about 12 inches, and thread it onto the sewing needle. Thread the tail back through the live stitches, and gather them to close (think drawstring bag). Using a mattress stitch, sew the sides together to create a tube with a cinched bottom. Stuff the tube with batting, poly-fill, or stuffing pellets. (I always use a technique for stuffing that I found here. In this chick's case, I wrapped strips of batting tightly around a large jingle bell to make a rattle inside. The head is a separate ball of wrapped batting strips only.) To close the top opening, sew through every stitch on the top, and gather again as a drawstring bag. To form the neck, use the same drawstring technique a third of the way down from the top. Weave in all of the ends.

For the Wings: (knit 2)

Using the straight needles and the same light yellow, CO 8 stitches. Knit 8 rows.

Row 9: Slip, slip, knit (SSK) the first two stitches, Knit (K) 4, Knit 2 together (6 stitches remain)

Row 10: Knit

Row 11: SSK, Knit 2 together (4 stitches remain)

Bind off

For the Beak:

Using straight needles and an orange yarn, CO 6 stitches.

Knit 3 rows.

Row 4: SSK, Knit 2, Knit 2 together (4 stitches remain)

Row 5: SSK, Knit 2 together (2 stitches remain)

Bind off

For the Legs and Feet: (knit 2)

Using size 6 dpns, CO 3 stitches. Work in i-cord for 2 inches.

Foot Shaping:

Turn and knit back and forth on the dpns as follows:

Row 1: Knit

Row 2: Knit 1, (Knit in the front and back), Knit 1 (4 stitches total)

Row 3: Knit 1, (Knit in the front and back) two times, Knit 1 (6 stitches total)

Rows 4 & 5: Knit

Row 6: Turn, and knit into the first two stitches

Row 7: Leaving 4 stitches untouched, turn and knit back through the first two stitches. Bind off these two stitches leaving a 4 inch tail.

Row 8: Knit through the next two stitches leaving the remaining two untouched.

Row 9: Turn, and knit back through those two stitches. Bind off these two stitches leaving another 4 inch tail.

Row 10: Knit into the last two stitches.

Row 11: Turn, and knit back through the stitches, and bind off leaving a 4 inch tail.

Weave in all tails.

Piecing:

Using the sewing needle and the appropriate yarn color, sew the wings, beak, and legs/feet to the chick. Add eyes and other embellishments as desired!

You can find the accompanying egg pattern here. As a note of caution, the egg turned out much bigger than I anticipated although I checked my gauge against the directions. The directions say that it could fit over a traditional plastic Easter egg, but mine was at least twice as big. I ended up using a plastic egg with beans inside, wrapping it in batting, then tucking it inside the knitted egg. So both my egg and my chick are rattles.

I have never ever written a knitting pattern before, so I'm sure there are countless mistakes. Please feel free to ask any questions you run into, and I'll try to answer them asap.

Happy Knitting!